


Spy Against Spy

by Ursula



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Crossover, Episode Related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-07-10
Updated: 2004-07-10
Packaged: 2019-02-05 14:20:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12796329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ursula/pseuds/Ursula
Summary: Alex Krycek faces an accusation that he subverted an FBI agent. His lovers, Mulder and Skinner, face charges. He faces accusations which drive him to his only remaining friend's door. Kim Cook.





	Spy Against Spy

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

Spy Versus Spy

 

 

Jet lagged, bleary eyed, and semi dazed, Alex decided he wouldn't wait to see his lovers. It had been a terrible trip. South America had been sweat, a bout of La Grippe, and an unsettling fight with a nest of Greys, in which one of the mindless terrors had raked a claw along his left hip and leg. Sometimes, it seemed as if it would never be over for Alex. Even now, when he finally had a life, he found himself struggling in dark hellholes alone as always.

 

But things would get better. That idea had always kept him going no matter how dark his life had been. At least now, Alex could count on that he would have a big, clean bed, Mulder on one side and Walter on the other. They didn't always choose this arrangement, but when Alex came back from one of his trips, his lovers always seemed to know that he needed to feel surrounded by their caring.

 

Home was a word right up there with love and for Alex, both four letter words meant the sprawling house on the edge of Washington, DC.

 

Alex flipped his ID at the guard, still finding it worthy of note that he legitimately could enter the Hoover building and walk to Walter's office. He looked forward to seeing Kim too. She represented something Alex had not had for a long time, a friend, an uncomplicated relationship in which he was neither using nor being used. Reaching into the pocket of Mulder's overcoat -- the one he had borrowed on his way out the door to the airport – Alex found the little pottery necklace of colorful birds he had bought from a street vendor. He hadn't found time to wrap it, but he was sure that she wouldn't mind.

 

Hmm, Ricky Caruso was parked on her desk, one round cheek resting on the polished edge. So Walter was not here. Walter did not approve of sitting on desks. Besides, Alex thought that Ricky made his lover nervous. He always seemed to talk to Ricky from behind the safety of a defensive sheaf of paperwork, refusing to meet the young clone's eyes.

 

The whole thing amused Alex. Ricky wasn't him. They might share the same gene map, but life had shaped them differently. He didn't even regard Ricky as a relative although he liked the lively rookie. They had not met until they were adults and although they were genetic duplicates, they did not have a lot in common as different as their life experiences had been.

 

Still, Alex was fascinating by his clone. It amused him that Ricky was so open to the paranormal and he wondered if that was something gene deep. Ricky, like him, seemed to adapt readily to changes. He remembered how they had met. Spender had kidnapping the young police officer, perhaps intending to carve a replacement for Alex out of this raw material. Well, Alex had nipped that plan in the bud and arranged for Ricky's current employment in the Washington DC FBI office. Alex had wanted him where he could keep an eye on him and Ricky had loved the promotion. It was a matter of public record, part of the National Security Task-force on the Consortium that Ricky was a clone. The seven day wonder had passed and Ricky had blended into the FBI like any other rookie agent.

 

Whatever Ricky had to say, it required leaning very close, his hypnotic voice sultry and low. Kim was blushing as prettily as a ripe peach. Alex loved to see her blush, and her soft giggle that followed Ricky's quiet flirting was a delight.

 

Imitating Walter, Alex barked, "Agent Caruso!"

 

Without turning around, Ricky said, "Hey, you're back. You know, I'd really like to see those aliens."

 

"Trust me. You don't," Alex said. He dangled the necklace in front of Kim and said, "Bought this for you. Pretty thing."

 

"The necklace or her?" Ricky teased.

 

Reminding himself to have a good long talk with Ricky about not toying with Kim's affections, Alex said, "Both."

 

"You're so sweet, Alex. It's lovely. I haven't ever seen anything like it," Kim said. She held the necklace out to Ricky and said, "Help me put it on."

 

Satisfied that she liked the impulsive gift, Alex said, "Kim? Where's Walter? I want to see him right away."

 

"I don't know. The director called him to an emergency meeting. He called an hour ago and told me to set up the large meeting room for the press. I've been busy calling for coffee and snacks. You know how the press is. If you don't feed them, they're just like vultures," Kim said.

 

Just then, Alex had a scheme. He left grinning as he thought about the very large podium in the conference room. He wasn't a small man, but the speaker stand was huge, a relic of J. Edgar who had bought the thing from some defunct college that had a very fat dean, who was vain enough not to want to spill over the sides when he lectured.

 

Wouldn't Walter be surprise when he found out who was hiding in the thing? It might earn Alex a mild spanking, but it would be worth it just to see the expression on Walter's face.

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

A mild cramp almost made Alex regret his prank, but when he peeked out the caterers were setting up coffee and Danish. He just couldn't bring himself to crawl out in front of them. Swift on their heels, the meeting room filled with the low rumble of reporter's stomachs as they descended on the thing that meant almost more to them than protecting their sources or a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize: free food.

 

Walter's legs strode in. Nice press, nice wool trousers. Mulder was picking out Walter's clothes again. Damn the man had good taste...Alex preened a little as he included himself in that assessment. Walter's shoes hit Alex's shins. The man looked down and made a choking noise. His face grew beet red.

 

Scully's voice asked, "Assistant Director Skinner, are you all right?"

 

"Fine," Walter answered, "just fine. I just had a frog caught in my throat."

 

Alex whispered, "Ribbitt," and ran his hand up Walter's leg.

 

To his surprise, Walter dropped a pen, leaned down, and whispered, "You fucking bastard, how could you?"

 

There had been no hint of a joke in Walter's voice. Alex froze into stunned silence as Walter said, "Members of the press, I am here to respond to your questions regarding the circumstances of Senior Agent Hopkins' alleged long term sale of compromising information to the intelligence of the USSR and consequently to Russia."

 

Hidden beneath the podium, Alex listened with increasing terror. He knew Hopkins and had never trusted the man. He had always been a greedy, self-serving egotist who viewed himself as above the law. He was one of those who always proudly spoke of Darwin, so sure that he was the fittest of the species. Alex had investigated the man at some point, believing him to have Consortium ties, but he had found no record of the man in Spender's files.

 

In Walter's words, Alex heard himself described if not named. "A Russian double agent who had once been an FBI agent...a man with a personal agenda that knew no national borders, had recruited Hopkins."

 

Most of the remaining speech did not register in any depth. Alex was fucked. He knew Walter too well. He heard the wounds beneath the clipped professional language.

 

Alex remained crouched behind the podium as the room cleared. Walter's legs moved away after the buzz of people died down. Alex reached out to hold onto his lover, but the leg slipped out of his reach. Just like everything else that had ever been good in Alex's life. It was gone and he couldn't hold on to it.

 

The voice, which finally spoke, sounded so far away. Walter said, "Mulder's sick over this. Literally ill. He went home to lie down. Alex, I thought we cleared the air. You said that you told us everything that we needed to know. You didn't think that having subverted a high ranking United States counter intelligence agent to sell us out to Russia counted as important?"

 

Alex tried to get something out as he crawled out of what seemed to him to be his coffin, the final resting place all of his hopes and happiness. He couldn't even speak when he saw Walter seated at a table, his head resting in his hand, his elegant suit jacket spread like wings over the chair. Walter looked at him and it would have hurt worse if his lover had hacked off his other arm with the same rusty knife as those ignorant peasants had used.

 

His voice almost expressionless, Walter said, "Go and wait in the trunk of my car, so I can get you out of here safely. They're already saying your name at the higher level conferences. I'm going to have to resign. Mulder might have to turn in his badge too."

 

Before Alex could speak, Walter added, "We always knew that something might turn up like this from the past. I'll be down in a few minutes. I have to wait for the investigative team to finish with my office."

 

 

It took all the willpower that Alex had to take a private and evasive route to the garage. He picked the lock and curled in the trunk, biting down on his arm to keep the panic at bay. He thought this was part of the punishment that Walter would be planning.

 

An endless time later, Alex felt the car start. His body was soaked with sweat. He was almost limp now, half in a faint. He hoped that Walter would stop as soon as they were away from the building but the car kept going for the entire hour-long drive back to the house. When they stopped, Alex could not get out without help. He stumbled in to the house held up by Walter's arm, but his lover would still not look at him.

 

The moment he stepped into the kitchen, Mulder was at his throat. An inarticulate rage-filled jumble of words spewed from the man. Alex broke his golden rule and fought back against the man he loved more than life. The only other time he had done that before was the time when he had kissed Mulder's cheek after knocking the man on his ass. The one time he had hit Mulder seriously it had been because he hadn't been able to afford the usual sadomasochistic role-play in which they seemed doomed to engage. Only his war against the aliens had driven him to hurt Mulder...and his apparent betrayal had been so cruel that any of the beatings the man had inflected afterwards were more than justified.

 

Walter separated them. For a moment, Alex didn't understand when Walter fumbled at the button on his jeans and unzipped his pants. Finally, he got it. His lover intended to spank him. Alex had certainly agreed to the terms as they all had. It was meant to even the playing field, to keep them from holding grudges or letting little problems grow into big ones.

 

Frankly, Alex had agreed because he thought it might be hot to be spanked. Well, it had not turned out to be a turn on, not the way Walter's hand swung down on his bottom, but Alex liked it afterwards when they cuddled and took care of each other. Still, Walter had always talked to him on the three previous occasions, asking him if he understood what he had did wrong and if he agreed.

 

This time he was led to the spanking bench, shuffling with his pants around his ankles. His throat was so tight with misery that he could not get out that he was not willing because he was not guilty.

 

Once he was being hit, old habits kicked in. He wouldn't let out a sound. He locked himself in his head and endured as he had forced himself to accept every other pain and tribulation, just or unjust, that he had known in his miserable life. When Walter had spanked him before, Alex had yelled and screamed, kicking and wailing like a naughty schoolboy. It had felt great, as if all the nastiness had been erased between the few safe years of his childhood and the last few safe months -- since he had been in this most wonderful dream of being Walter Skinner's and Fox Mulder's lover.

 

Now, it was just pain. The physical pain of Walter's callused hand on his tender ass. The emotional pain of knowing that neither of them had stopped to question why he would not have told them about a mole of that much importance. Shit, what did they think he was? That he would have continued such idiocy when the aliens were in retreat, but still not entirely defeated?

 

The blows slowed as Walter realized that he was getting no response. When no more swats landed, Alex scrambled away. He pulled up his pants, his lips trembling, and said in his old bitter tones, "Are you sure that you're finished?"

 

Walter was deathly pale white. He said, "Alex, I didn't mean to do that without asking."

 

There were no answers. Just something tearing inside. Just the feeling of his heart breaking. One last look at them as Mulder's fist pounded the wall and Walter's hand reached for him as if there was still a chance.

 

Not knowing where he was going, Alex stumbled into the rainy darkness outside. Instinct, rodent-like instinct, led him over a circuitous route until he came to a street busy enough to be served by a bus. Huddled in on himself, Alex numbly rode and made connections until he looked up and realized that he was in the middle class section of the city where Kimberly Cook made her modest home. Alex didn't know what drew him to her door, but his knuckles were grazing the door before he could think.

 

Then it was warm and her sturdy sweet little body supported his long and lanky one. She helped him take off the wet coat and gave him some warm chocolate milk to drink. Suddenly, Ricky appeared. Alex expected some sort of jealous scene, but Ricky's New York accent only said, "God, you poor pathetic shit, what have you been doing to yourself? C'mere. You're freezing."

 

 

 

Sometime later, Alex became aware that he was up to his waist in hot bath water, a warm towel vigorously massaging his neck and back and Kim's voice saying, "You can stay as long as you need to, Alex, but let me call them for you. They already have rang me twice to see if you showed up here."

 

"No, no, don't," Alex pleaded. "I can't face them. They think I'm guilty, but I didn't do it. I never met the bastard until just recently. I was making a presentation to the Defense department and he showed up with the Director. I didn't even know him when I was screwing around with that Russian identity. Hell, my ties with the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti are less real than the ones I had with the FBI. I didn't even attend their academy."

 

Sitting on the edge of the tub, Ricky Caruso looked interested. He said, "So the guy might have a damn good reason for remembering you and thinking he might be able to plea bargain down if he could bring in a bigger fish. And you are good juicy prey right now with your major role in chasing down the rest of the aliens. I'm going to look into it, Alex."

 

That, and a prefrontal lobotomy, would put to rest all of Alex's fears. He said, "I appreciate that Ricky, but I don't want to get you in trouble. I guess I already took Mulder and Skinner down with me."

 

"Don't underestimate me, partner. I've got the same genes as you have, Alex. I'll poke around discreetly and we shall see what we shall see," Ricky said.

 

Uninhibitedly giving Kim a smooch that could have raised the temperature of the bathroom to near boiling, Ricky said, "Just you wait, Alex. You did me a favor and now I'm going to do one for you. Let me go find something for you to wear."

 

Left alone with Kim, Alex slowly realized that he had been getting a back rub from the woman while sitting naked in her bathtub. Kim laughed softly at his expression and said, "Don't look so mortified. It's kind of nice to see how Ricky will look in a few years."

 

So she thought that Caruso was still going to be around when he was in his thirties? Well, the Italian -- or more or less Italian -- stallion better give up his wandering ways or tell Kim straight on that he was not serious or Alex would have a thing or two to say to the boy.

 

Handing Alex a towel, Kim turned her back for long enough for him to dry himself and put on the robe she'd handed him.

 

After Alex was more or less decent, Kim turned back to face him. Her expression looked as tough as A.D. Skinner in top form. "Do you want to tell me about those bruises? And don't lie to me. That didn't happen in a fight. I have my reasons for knowing the marks a sound spanking leaves," Kim said.

 

So Kim knew what spanking bruises looked like? That was interesting enough to jolt Alex out of his misery for a few minutes.

 

"We have an agreement," he said, "it's not abuse, you know, it's to clear the air and break down all those old defenses. I know this is going to sound crazy, but it really helps."

 

Kim said, "It doesn't sound crazy. I suppose we have more in common than either of us knew. Of course, I seem to be one who is asked to spank. Somehow, I'd guess it's the opposite with you."

 

"Yeah, you have that right," Alex said.

 

"But something went wrong this time, Alex, because you wouldn't be here if it was all settled," Kim remarked.

 

"They didn't even wait to hear my side of the story," Alex said, "For once, I can say I'm entirely innocent. I had nothing to do with that man. I was never involved with that political shit. Even when I was in Russia, my involvement only concerned the conspiracy and the aliens. I never ran any agents or operated any spy drops for the KGB. Hopkins is throwing up a cloud of doubt to try and make a deal. Either that or he just wants to take us down with him."

 

Seeming to sense that it was not the time for words, Kim hugged him instead. Ricky came back with a soft pair of sweatpants that must have been his by the way they fit Alex and a black Pearl Jam tee shirt the size of a circus tent. With the tatty and worn robe on top of this, Alex felt warm and comfortable. He felt at ease enough to leave his prostheses on the dresser where someone had put it and slumped down on the sofa. He yawned, exhausted from his trip and emotional stress.

 

"I got to work tomorrow," Ricky said, "I'll poke around and see if I can find out anything useful. Good night, Alex."

 

"Good night, Ricky, sorry to ruin your evening," Alex said.

 

"No problem, I owe you, man. For one thing, I wouldn't have met Kim if it weren't for you," Ricky answered.

 

"I'll walk you out," Kim said.

 

Saying good-bye took a while for the pair. Alex had leaned back on the couch and was half asleep by the time Kim reappeared from the door.

 

 

"You can't sleep like that," Kim said, "I've only got the one bedroom and my couch is too small for someone as tall as you to get comfortable. You can sleep in my bed, Alex."

 

Somehow he thought she planned on taking the couch, but instead her lush body was tucked next to his, warming his still shivering body. His head rested on her soft breasts as she stroked his hair and told him that it was going to be all right. He didn't believe her, but he slept, drifting away on the comfort of her voice.

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

Two men, one soul, and an aching void where Alex belonged, met at dawn. Walter made coffee after telling Mulder to go change his clothes. Sheer habit kept him moving. He put on water for hot cereal and went to take a shower. By the time, he came back, there was a gentle, continuous roll in the pot and he added Irish oatmeal and a handful of raisins.

 

Behind him the rattle of bowl told Walter that Mulder was also trying to carry on as if it was a normal morning. Then a crash and the sound of a gasp told him that the plan was failing. He turned around to see two place settings on the table and a third bowl shattered on the floor.

 

"It's broken, Mulder, no big deal," Walter said. He leaned over to sweep up the fragments.

 

Mulder fell into his chair, the wooden expression back on his face that Walter had hoped never to see again. "Why the hell did we handle it like that? When I was driving around looking for him, I realized that he's never lied to us since we became lovers. Well, there's things he won't tell us, I know that, but he just flat out states he can't tell us."

 

Frowning, Walter delivered the fragments to the trash. He spooned the oatmeal into two bowls, ignoring the sense that this was wrong. Both men laced their cereal with brown sugar and poured milk on top. "He didn't say he didn't do it."

 

Walter groaned to himself. He continued, "Not that I gave him much of a chance. It was a knee jerk reaction, like every old misery had reawakened. All I could think about was that he had betrayed our country and us."

 

Stirring strawberry jam into his oatmeal, Mulder appeared to be trying to read the future in the patterns. "I don't think he did it. Hopkins was looking for a bargaining chip. I know he was at that meeting with Defense. The one where we..." Mulder managed a smile and said, "had to come out."

 

Taking a bite of his oatmeal, Walter noted what a poor choice the cereal was to eat when a lump the size of a baseball had taken up residence in your throat. It set like concrete until he washed it down with a scalding draught of coffee. He said, "Yes, I remember him sitting there looking like a shark that smelled blood. But what could we do? The alternatives were unacceptable."

 

Walter remembered the day they had made that choice. Somehow he had avoided the thought that someone was bound to ask, right up to the moment when it happened.

 

"What is the exact nature of your relationship with Alex Krycek and Fox Mulder?" the committee chair had asked.

 

Sitting there in a silence that had grown more uncomfortable by the second, Walter had met Mulder's eyes and saw his lover nod. Alex had leaned forward,

eyes wide, looking very young, his eyes questioning as if his life depended on the answer.

 

Walter said, "We are allies in a fight to save the human race from an alien invasion. We are the resistance to a conspiracy of man who would sell us out to creatures who would enslave us, man, woman, and child." Taking a deep breath, Walter had met the chairperson's gaze and said, "We are lovers and that, gentlemen and ladies, is not something I am willing to debate or change."

 

Looking at his lovers' expressions, Walter had felt free for the first time since the day he met Carl Spender. They had moved in together a week later and up until today, last night, whichever, he had dreamed that this would be THE relationship for him, the one he hadn't been able to hold onto with Sharon, his wife. He loved Mulder and trusted that Mulder loved him, but the dream was all three of them and without Alex...without Alex...the dream was dead.

 

 

M/K/SkKMSSMKMSKKMS

 

Waking up, Alex felt someone covering him as warmth withdrew from his side. So it had all been a bad dream. He was at home, being allowed to sleep late and that was either Mulder or Walter looking after him. He sleepily stirred and said, "No, I want to get up with you, lover."

 

The room was not blue. The bedspread was not the hand sewn eternity pattern quilt from Walter's Aunt May. These walls were a pleasant shade of rose. The

coverlet matched with a deeper rose tone. The room was warm, feminine without being frilly. It was a pleasant room, which reflected a charming woman. Alex looked further and saw Kim standing there, her expression full of compassion.

 

"Fuck it. Fuck it. Fuck it," Alex raged, beating the pillow with his one hand. He couldn't cry; the tears that burned inside would not release. Instead he felt them scorch inside like acid behind his eyelids, fires hollowing him, leaving him empty and alone.

 

Feeling Kim's hand stroking his back, Alex held still. Part of him wanted to turn his rage on her. Another part of him reacted with that using, self-absorbed persona, the one that used sex as both his drug of choice and his weapon. Seduce her. Use her to forget his lovers. Bind her to him so she would continue helping him.

 

Thank God that another better self prevailed. He would not throw this relationship away because he was hurting over Walter and Fox. Alex turned his face toward Kim and said, "Kim, leave me alone right now. I have to think. I

have to deal with this. Please just go to work. I'll be okay here if I can stay?"

 

The kiss on his forehead was kind and caring. She said, "Stay for as long as you need to, Alex. I'm your friend. You know that."

 

Some of the bitterness assuaged. He had not lost everything. She still believed in him. Alex lay in Kim's bed, listening to her get ready for work. He didn't hear her leave though. He had gone back to sleep, weak still from his recent dysentery, from the scratch from the Grey that marked his left thigh, and from emotional exhaustion.

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

Waking, Alex sat up and found that his mind had cleared and damn it, he wasn't going to just lie down and die. He would fight to clear his name and fight to get his lovers back. His resolution buoyed him through the ritual of

showering and dressing...Kim had washed and dried his clothing at some point. He found coffee and ate some dry toast, all he thought his fragile stomach could take at this point.

 

His first need was for a computer. Alex had to stop and buy a suit for the persona that had access to the information and equipment he needed. This small office, masquerading as a public relations company , was one of the "Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies" part of his life. It was a front for the resistance, a way to look for aberrations that might indicate pockets of alien influence.

 

Some things about the resistance he still kept separate from his lovers. No single man could hold all the power or keep all the information. Everything he knew was replicated in separate cells of people who knew one person in the next ring. Supposedly by the time that one layer of security was violated, the others should be alerted. If something happened to him, the resistance would go on, hopefully growing another head for each that was severed.

 

In this place, Alex was Mike Manners, a major stockholder and honorary director for this firm, important enough to merit an executive office, but not part of the daily toil. Reach Out Enterprises actually turned a profit with sales of mailing lists and public opinion polls. That amused Alex, who liked to make things work on more than one level.

 

Sitting at his desk, Alex keyed in the tediously long series of fail-safes that prevented anyone from him accessing his files. The ones he wanted he had

not looked at for ages. Hell, even when he copied this stuff originally, he had not been sure what he would ever do with it, if anything.

 

You know, speed-reading was an under-rated skill, Alex mused, as he tried to find the exact file that he remembered might have the bit of information that he required. These Russian files were a sorry testament to human nature. Alex wondered whom the first double agent was, probably someone who lived around the time of the first spy. Maybe if he managed to make it to a respectable old age, he'd write some scholarly paper on that.

 

There it was...hell, this went back before Alex had been no more than a high school kid. He could prove that he had been nowhere near Russia or Washington at that time. There were no names, but the facts fit. So what he had to do was to copy the files and deliver them to where they were needed to be seen...the headquarters of the investigative team. Just to make sure, another set would be on the desk of a prominent journalist.

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

Damned if Ricky didn't show up before Kim did when Alex went back to her townhouse. Sensibly, Alex should have stayed at a hotel, but he didn't really want to be alone. He looked at Ricky with a suspicious eye and asked, "Do you live here or something?"

 

Flinging out his expressive hands, Ricky said, "Hey, man, don't jump in my face. I didn't do anything to you. I'm just here to burn some steaks. How do you like yours?"

 

"Rare," Alex said, sitting down at the counter to watch the boy cook.

 

"You know, I'm pretty serious about Kim. I can see the way you've been looking at me as if I was some kind of creep just putting the make on her. Hell, I know I flirt a lot, but it's just the way I am. Kim's different from those other woman." An evasive toss of Ricky's pretty hair showed the underlying truth, that Ricky flirted with everyone of either or any gender. "I'd be pretty stupid if I didn't see that Kim was special," Ricky said.

 

Feeling suddenly like Wally talking to the Beaver, Alex said, "I'm glad to hear that. Kim is a good friend and I don't want to see her hurt."

 

Finding himself watching Ricky's ass wiggle and wondering if his was still that cute, Alex made himself look away and not count the days, ten of them, since he had been laid. All right, he just wouldn't count the hours or the minutes since he had kissed Mulder or been kissed by Walter. His fingers brushed his lips, as if any trace could remain of the sweetness and completion he felt in his lovers' arms.

 

Kim came in, carrying two huge sacks of groceries. Alex hurried to take one of them. "Shopping for a horde?"

 

"Ricky," Kim answered. "He likes to eat. I wish I could eat like him and not get fat."

 

Soon, Alex found himself chopping along with Kim, constructing a huge salad. It almost felt like being home. He caught himself listening for Mulder's voice, that particular sound that reminded him of a summer day, warm and melodious, not quite musical but sweetly familiar. When Walter interjected, it was often a short comment, but the man could convey a book in his succinct tones.

 

Abruptly, he had to ask, "Kim, did they fire Walter and Mulder?"

 

Turning away, Kim washed the knives and the chopping board before she answered. She said, "No, the rumor is that they are going to be allowed to resign. I went out to lunch with Scully and people were very careful not to sit next to us, as if we might be carrying some kind of plague."

 

Nodding, Alex said, "Yeah, I guess it's hard to fire heroes. Don't worry, Kim, it's not going to happen. I've got information now that shows it goes way back. Hell, the man has been on the take since I was in high school. I think he went over when he was stationed in Berlin twenty-three years ago. I was what...fifteen? I don't think anyone will buy that I managed to subvert the man from across the ocean when I was a teenager. I may be the devil to a lot of people, but no one is that stupid. I just have to figure out how to get the files into the investigative office."

 

Producing a nicely browned steak from the grill, Ricky plunked it down on the waiting platter. He said, "Well, hey, boss, I got the answer to that. I'm not assigned because of the clone stuff, but I know who is. Both of them smoke and Freeman, well, he has a thing for Kim. She can distract Freeman while Patrick is out smoking. I'll just watch and when he's not looking I can slip on some gloves, put those files into the office, and be out of there before anyone sees me."

 

"I don't want Kim involved," Alex replied quickly.

 

"It won't work without me. Don't you think I'm the Mata Hari type?" Kim replied, striking what she must have thought was a vampish pose. It only looked cute on her.

 

"She's slick," Ricky admired. "Come on, Alex, we won't get into any trouble because we won't get caught. Besides, you're outvoted, two to one."

 

Looking from stubborn face to stubborn face, Alex gave in. He felt a somewhat strange. He had always assumed that a lot of the reason Walter and Mulder put up with him was for the sex. Kim and Ricky, however, were taking a big risk for nothing more than friendship. That was not something Alex knew a lot about, but he thought he really liked it. 

 

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

However, Kim was not at work. She had called in ill. Walter obtained Caruso's address from personnel and they decided to check there before dropping in on Kim unannounced.

 

"I have to be out of my mind," Walter remarked as they prowled through Ricky Caruso's untidy bachelor apartment, a one-bedroom overpriced example of converted slum dwelling, in urban Washington.

 

There was no evidence that Alex had been here. In fact, Ricky didn't do much living here considering his nearly empty refrigerator and missing toothbrush. Mulder picked up a baseball trophy and said, "Wonder how he looks in those uniforms or better yet out of them?"

 

Blushing at the sudden image that popped into his head, something about Ricky sitting naked on Kim's desk and both of them looking at him with a come hither air, Walter said, "Never mind that. Our mission is finding Alex Krycek."

 

Kim had managed to find a tidy townhouse on the ground floor. She had a postage stamp of a yard in front and the back opened up into a passable green space. Mulder said, "If Alex is here, we should sneak up on him so we need to look in her windows."

 

Oh, God, Walter could see the headlines. Assistant Director and Special Agent caught in peeping tom incident the day after they are cleared of suspected association with a Russian spy...

 

Still, he crept and peered through the cheerful chintz curtains of Kim's tidy kitchen. There was no sign of anyone. Likewise, the living room was vacant although three wineglasses remained on a tray. Mulder grimaced and said, "We need to check on the bedroom. Come on, Walter."

 

The window was slightly open although the drapes were closed. Mulder raised the shade an inch or two with a stick. Peering through this narrow aperture, Walter saw what made Mulder gasp and sink to the ground, spinning around to sit with his head in his hands and his back to the wall.

 

Figures moved on the bed. Kim's red hair glistened in the candlelight. Walter recognized his lover's moans and his strong legs, which encircled Kim's waist. His hand was tangled in her hair as she leaned down, her full breasts enticingly offered like ripe peaches over a waiting mouth. They kissed and Walter heard his lover's husky voice whisper, "Kim, God, there's no one like you. I think that I'm falling in love with you."

 

If Walter weren't so upset, he would have thought that they were beautiful together. However he felt devastated. He joined Mulder on the ground, pulling his remaining lover into an embrace.

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

"What did we expect? It's Alex. Of course Kim couldn't resist him. You know how hot he is," Mulder moaned.

 

"I agree. It isn't her fault. It's ours," Walter agreed.

 

"What the hell are you doing here?" a familiar voice demanded.

 

A stunned silence followed the question. Stupidly, Walter had to stand, look in the window and confirm that there was still a naked man with dark hair in the bed with Kim. There was. Walter would know that ass anywhere. However, he finally realized that he could count to two...two arms. Not Alex. It was Ricky with Kim.

 

As this penetrated Walter's slow-to-function brain, Mulder leapt up and

tackled Alex, his hands grabbing both sides of Alex's face and burying his mouth in frenzied kisses. Any protest from Alex gave way to moans as the two of them first fell to their knees then tumbled to the ground.

 

Oh hell, he really didn't care what anyone said or saw. Walter joined his lovers, pulling both toward him. His first taste of Alex's mouth after so many days thrilled him. He pressed his hand to the back of his lover's head until they broke apart gasping. His hands moved underneath Alex's shirt while Mulder fumbled at their lover's jeans.

 

Moments before they managed to violate the public indecency law beyond a shadow of a doubt, a very cold splash of water redirected their intention to above their heads. Ricky Caruso leaned out the now entirely open window. He was grinning and holding a large plastic bucket.

 

Dripping, all three men ceased groping to ask, "Why the hell did you do that?"

 

Angling a boxer-clad hip on the sill, Ricky said, "I'm trying to save Kim's lease. Get in here."

 

Walter stood first, hauling Mulder up by the front of his pants and offering a hand to Alex. He thought for several minutes that Alex would refuse the gesture, but slowly his beloved's fingers crept into his. His hand surrounded Alex's. Green eyes met his, depths of the ocean in their color.

 

"Alex, I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please give me another chance," Walter pleaded.

 

"Give us a chance," Mulder joined.

 

Standing, his hand still clasped in Walter's, Alex shuddered. His head bent and he looked aside. Walter said, prayerfully, "Alex, we need you with us. We'll do anything to have you back where you belong."

 

When Alex nodded, Walter knew what they meant when they said 'his heart leapt for joy'. Alex let himself be pulled closer for another kiss. Blindly reaching, Walter's other hand found Mulder's as if their very molecules called to each other. The three were one again.

 

Kim's voice called them back to reality a long time later. She said, "My neighbors are already talking about my male Olsen twins. I don't think I can pass you three off as advante garde garden gnomes. You better finish this conversation inside."

 

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

Having believed that he knew Kim Cook, Walter was a little startled to meet this version; she had dressed, but her hair was tumbled loose from the bed and shower. Her complexion glowed in a way no makeup could simulate, or that freshly fucked shade would have made Revlon even a bigger corporation. However, her small hand was tapping her thigh in a manner that somehow reminded him of those old unresolved days with Mulder when he would engage in fantasies about swatting that perfect ass. And what a perfect ass Mulder could be at times...

 

"You were peeping at Ricky and me!" Kim accused.

 

Ricky's grin was unrepentant. He had the morals of a tomcat and good luck to Kim if she meant to domesticate him. Walter had his own troubles in that same area with Alex. Not that Alex was unfaithful, but wild...the man was positively feral and Ricky was only a shade more domesticated.

 

"And you spanked Alex without talking to him about the reason. That's not in the rule book," Kim remarked. "And don't think that Alex tells tales out of school. I saw the bruises and guessed what had happened."

 

First, Walter gaped at Kim, trying to decide if she was really his sweet and innocent personal assistant or an alien clone. Then, he decided he really didn't know Kim at all and that she might have the most interesting hidden depths.

 

 

Looking at Alex, Walter said, "I don't know quite how you deduced that, Kim, but you're right You can believe that I will be making that up to him as best as I can."

 

"Both you and Mulder deserve a spanking," Kim said.

 

"I couldn't do that, Kim," Alex said with a shocked expression. "You know that in the past, I hurt them. I don't want to do that ever again. I can't spank either of them."

 

"That's not fair, Alex," Walter said, " I..."

 

Ricky Caruso was taking this all in with absolute fascination. Kim seemed to have realized that about the same time as Walter did. She sternly turned on her young man and said, "Ricky, go home. These three need a referee, but not an audience."

 

"Hey, my lips are sealed. Come on. I mean, a guy's got to..." Ricky's facile speech froze at the expression on his lover's face. He finished by saying, "Got to go home sometime. Night all. Catch you at the office everyone."

 

Remind Walter to recommend Kim for a future management-training seminar. She had untapped potential. Ricky departed post haste.

 

Kim said, "Alex, if you can't do, I'll administer the discipline your lovers are asking for."

 

A mutter from Mulder of the nature of "I wasn't asking!" was ignored by all.

 

Wheels were turning in Alex's head. Of course, they always were, but this time, Walter could tell that his lover was struggling with all of his contrary selves. He had tried to show them his strength, but in a particular way, fighting to repress the ruthlessness of which they all knew he was capable. Instead, he would seldom ask for anything or show them hurt feelings. The only time he would let go was when either Walter or Mulder spanked him.

 

"This is really something you want? You need it like I do?" Alex asked.

 

"I know I can't even start to forgive myself until I show you that I am

willing to pay the same way I demanded that you pay," Walter said.

 

"Okay, but Kim will do it. You can just hold on to me because I want you to know I'm sorry too. I should have come back when I realized how much I hurt you when I left," Alex said.

 

There were no questions asked when Kim brought out a large paddle. It could explain a lot about Ricky Caruso's recent improvements in maturity and planning skills.

 

"Oh, my," was Kim's only less than detached comment as Walter draped himself over her couch.

 

"Yeah, it's a nice view," Alex remarked possessively.

 

Expecting some ladylike taps, Walter was surprised to feel her first blow ignite a shock of pepper-hot pain on his ass. Alex whispered, "She plays golf, you know, and hand ball. Worked her way through college as a pro at the local course. You never noticed how easily she hefts those heavy files?"

 

God, he would have been better off with Alex! Kim was remorseless and her virtue gave her the strength of ten, or at least so it felt. Walter wasn't going to yell. Kim was soft and pretty. She took care of him in the office as if he were the center of her life. She was gentle, sweet, and kind Kim.

 

By the tenth swat, he yelled. He was blinking back tears before it was over. Alex's hand helped him dress and he collapsed, trying to sit on the least stinging side of his rear with Alex's arms around him.

 

Staring at Mulder with her paddle ready, Kim said, "Walter wasn't the only one who made a mistake, Mulder."

 

Glaring at Alex despite their recent passionate reunion, Mulder demanded, "What did you tell her?"

 

Taking command back, Kim said, "He said nothing, Mulder. You dropped your load of guilt on Scully. Who was she supposed to talk to? She knew that I was aware of your relationship with Alex. I've argued that case with her often enough. She even broke down and went to lunch with Alex and I last Sunday."

 

That was news to Walter. Mulder mourned Scully's barriers since he had told her of his relationship with Alex. If she was willing to actually get to know Krycek as a person instead of the bogeyman, Walter had faith in Alex's charm.

 

"I don't want to be spanked by a...by a girl," Mulder declared, blushing as he heard some long buried fourth grade self emerge from his grown up self.

 

"I always tell people that you and Walter are two of the bravest men I ever knew," Alex said. "Mulder..."

 

That tone, the way Alex's tongue slicked around the two syllables until they were a paean of lust, was an effective goad. Mulder muttered, "If Walter can take it so can I."

 

Having recovered from the repeated emotional shocks of the evening and then from Kim's unexpected strength of arm, Walter now had an opportunity to check on her technique. Nice minimalist swing, strong follow through and no wasted effort after the paddle connected. Kim Cook knew what the hell she was doing here just as she did in the office. Nor were those the only places where she excelled, Walter thought. Don't go there, he chided himself as his mind painted a picture of a very happy Ricky Caruso in Kim's bed.

 

Mulder was yelling now, totally uninhibited. When Kim finished, he jetted to the other side of the couch for the comfort of his lovers' arms, not even bothering to cover his behind first.

 

Walter saw Kim's lip tremble and he gently disengaged from Mulder to go give her a hug. She leaned into him and said, "I thought I was doing the right thing. The way Alex explained it, the spanking made you able to bury the past so when Alex couldn't do it...well, I'm his friend. You know how much I care about all three of you..."

 

Managing to control his still deep and fast breaths, Mulder said, "No, Kim, you were right. I do feel better...I mean, not my behind, that stings, but I don't feel like I have to punish myself now."

 

His hand gently tracing Alex's face, Mulder said, "Now, all I need is to go home and spend a long time telling my lovers exactly how much I need both of them."

 

A smiling Alex got up and peered out the window. He said, "That's a good idea, because Ricky didn't really go home. He's sitting in his car and looking a lot like an abandoned puppy."

 

"Is he?" Kim asked, sounding pleased.

 

"Yeah, right out there, dreaming of you, I bet," Alex said.

 

A firm hand guided Walter to the door. Kim hugged Mulder and stared up into his eyes until he laughed and said, "All right, you don't remotely hit like a girl, Ms. Kimberly Cook"

 

Alex lingered for a moment. His one hand tilted Kim's face to his and he kissed her. He said, "You ever need anything..."

 

"I know who to ask," Kim agreed. "Tell Ricky to..."

 

Ricky didn't need to be told. He was running, a bouquet of apricot roses in his hand. His chestnut colored hair blew loosely in the night breeze. He swooped Kim up in his arms and waved good-bye to the three lovers as he carried her giggling into her home.

 

"Nice," Alex said. "Now take me home and make love to me."

 

KMSSMKMSKKMS

 

Alex's coat was abandoned in the doorway of their home. His shirt, already unbuttoned from frenzied necking in the car, was discarded on the end rail to the stairs. One shoe was kicked off and fell to the bottom of the stairs. The other found a home against the wall in the hallway. His pants were lost before they reached the bedroom doorway.

 

Meanwhile, Mulder had shed his clothing and gleamed in the light like a glowing javelin of a man. His heavy cock was totally erect and curving powerfully toward his stomach.

 

The only one still dressed, Walter couldn't take his eyes off them to bother. Sometimes, it seemed to him that he was living in myth, some ancient hero blessed by the gods with two of the most beautiful men he could ever imagine.

 

But now hands were stripping him, batting away his hands when he tried belatedly to help. Hazel eyes met green in silent but mischievous communication. As they tugged down his shorts, they pulled hard and spun him to the bed. Alex devoured his lips, suckled devotedly at his nipples as Mulder finished undressing Walter.

 

Mulder's lubricated fingers penetrated him as Alex's dreamily worked his way downward. His heart sped and his body felt more alive than it had ever felt, even more than the first time they had yielded to this unexpected passion. He was so ready that it took very little to prepare him. Alex's tender laughter reassured Walter that he was really there and this was no dream.

 

In a moment, Mulder was inside him and Alex's mouth was around his cock...they were flying. They were flying through the horror and the terror of the years they had left behind, past the agony and the loss of the few days. They had wings that carried them all home again. Carried them to love.

 

Home...


End file.
